Pouilly-Fuisse is one of those wine names that became lodged in my mind long before I ever became a confirmed oenophile. Like, say, ‘Chateau Lafite Rothschild’, or ‘La Veuve Clicquot, the name carries a certain cachet, but, until now, I had never tried one of these.

The Pouilly-Fuisse AOC belongs to the Maconnais sub-region of Burgundy and the grape used in that AOC is exclusively Chardonnay. I am not a huge fan of that varietal, as I think I have mentioned before, but this particular wine is very good indeed….

Producer: Albert Bichot

Price: $25.40 CDN

Alcohol : 13.3%

Sugar: 1.6 g/L

The color is a fairly pale straw color with a faint greenish tinge. The nose is quite aromatic with aromas of honey, peach and green apple, with some moderately strong floral highlights, and there are background tones of dry grass and sawdust. The body is medium full and the texture quite smooth, albeit with a mineral hard edge. It is very dry, with a sharp burst of acidity at the outset that moderates through to the nice long finish. The fruitiness of the nose is not quite as forward in the mouth but the woodiness is much more apparent and has a quality of fresh cut wood with a surprising hint of balsam. There are mineral notes beneath a mellow honey taste and, overall, the wine is sharply refreshing and interesting.